The invention relates generally to a battery operated device which is particularly useful in a hotel room, as well as at home, for detecting motion and/or smoke and sounding an alarm in response thereto. The inventive device also relates to portable, personal security alarms which are easily held in the hand of a user during walking or jogging and readily actuatable by the user in order to sound the alarm in an emergency or threatening situation.
To the inventor's knowledge, U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,145 is the closest prior art to a combination of features provided by the instant invention. As specified hereinafter, the instant invention provides several important improvements over the prior art.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide such a device which is particularly adapted for use while traveling or in apartments, dormitories and other locations where another alarm system may or may not be present.
And it is an object of the invention to provide such a device which can be carried in a handbag or briefcase and can be easily set-up and supported on a dresser, nightstand, door, window, floor or the like in order to detect an intruder.
More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide the user with the ability to select a mode of operation in which motion can be sensed within either or both of two generally oppositely directed fields of view.
Also, it is an object of the invention to provide for aiming the field(s) of view by tilting the device to a particular angle relative to a support surface and maintaining that angle of tilt for motion detecting.
Additionally, it is an object of the invention to provide for easy manual selection and adjustment of each field of view.
Still another object of the invention is to provide that each motion sensing element has several lenses or lens clusters associated therewith and integrally attached to the device so as to be manually shiftable into alignment with the motion sensing element in order to selectably modify the corresponding field of view.
Further, it is an object of the invention to provide a rotatable turret corresponding to each field of view, with each turret having several windows in each of which are supported a lens or lens cluster so that manual rotation of the turret allows selection and alignment of a particular window with a motion sensing element. In so doing, the field of view of each lens of the cluster can overlap, or not, with a field of view of one or more of the other lenses of the cluster so as to result in a sensor field of view which is uniquely patterned according to the cluster of lenses mounted in a selected window of the turret.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide at least one panic button for actuating the personal alarm and to provide a user selectable and settable code for instantly disabling a high decibel alarm and resetting and rearming the device. Thus, the device can be reset and rearmed by depressing the panic button a particular number of times and/or in a particular pattern according to that code.
Also, it is an object of the invention to provide that this coded reset feature is useable in motion detecting modes of operation of the device.
Additionally, it is an object of the invention to provide the device with a separately actuatable smoke detector operatively associated with the high decibel alarm.
Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide for selecting between the high decibel output and a lower audio output similar to that of the typical beepers or pagers.
A preferred embodiment of the invention meets all of the above, as well as other, objects of the invention and provides for selective actuation of various modes of operation, as will be apparent from a complete reading of the instant disclosure.